i’ll admit, i was planning this party last november. (i’m not ashamed. after all, i thought i was going to do a cutesy sock monkey theme, until i just realized that there would be zero chance of that happening. i have what you would call an “opinionated toddler.”)

how did i start? pinterest, of course. i started scouring ideas, party decorations, invitations, cakes, you name it. i made trips to every store that carries cricut cartridges for the “cars” cartridge. (which just fyi – is pretty much no longer available in physical form through cricut. i did, however, track it down though the new cricut craft room. if you aren’t sure what this is, check it out here.)

then, i sketched. it was the best, first place for me to start and figure out just what in the heck i needed to put on my party to-do list (which i am not ashamed to admit is now 3-1/2 pages long.)

so, here’s where i started and where i’m at (i know this is going to be a multi-part post, hopefully culminating in photos of the full party that is what i’m envisioning):

1. party invites. i loved the idea of a vintage postcard as an invite and enclosed that within a paper source a6 folded card in red. to top it off, the “cars” cricut cartridge came in to help….cutting out both the lightning mcqueen 95 and also the piston cup. a little bit of black and white paper topped off both designs to finish up the whole package.

2. banners. here’s where i’m going a little overboard. but i happened to purchase the dekalb hobby lobby’s complete stock of black and white checked scrapbook paper, so why not? oh, and my latest favorite helper for banners: red and white baker’s twine. (i picked up a whole roll from paper source…very easy to work with and a bit easier than working with 2″ ribbon which i’ve used in my banners before.) as of today, i have five banners made. with the big birthday banner still to be made.

3. pinwheels. i actually saw these in a cricut tv commercial and just had to try them. super easy and fun. i also picked up some 12″ wood dowels from hobby lobby, added a touch of hot glue and the pinwheels were complete.

in a later post, we’ll share the black-and-white checkered popcorn cones, the big birthday banner, water bottle labels, and soda bottle labels. oh, and the all important mini candy buffet.

the one thing i’m leaving to the professionals is the cake. or, rather, cakes. all i have to say is that i cannot wait to share those with you….but we’ll have to wait until the after-party post.

here’s to turning three (and for being a mama who’s going a bit overboard),

ashley